Vibratory Manipulation

Vibratory manipulation is the use of repeated impacts, typically at high frequency and low amplitude, to manipulate objects. Although this sort of manipulation is commonly used, e.g. in parts feeding systems, there has been relatively little work on formally analyzing the mechanics. In this paper, we focus on manipulating a planar slider repeatedly tapped by a vibrating manipulator. We find that there are two basic types of manipulation that can result: intermittent tapping, in which the object comes to rest in between impacts, and continuous tapping, in which the object remains in constant motion. Vibratory manipulation is often done by a manipulator with a fixed periodic motion; the resulting system can display chaotic behavior in the impact timing and amplitude. We examine the stability of the object motion and relate it to parameters of the manipulator vibration. Analytical results and simulated experiments are described to support our findings.